Acoustical wall support



Oct. 22, 1929.; a; E. BALDUF 32,3

ACOUSTICAL WALLSUPPORVT Filed Oct. 11, 1926 EU/W20 E Patented Oct. 22, i929 UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE BRUNO E. BALDUF, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASIGNOR TO UNITED STATES GYPSUM I COMPANY; OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS ACOUSTICAL WALL surronr Application filed October 11, 1926. Serial No. 140,704.

This invention relates to a support for a 7 wall or ceiling, and more particularly to the provision of an acoustical wall in which sounds are .not transmitted directly by contact between rigid supporting members but rather to the provision of fibrous orvother yielding means which permit the movement of the building or other sup port relative to the wall supports so that a ccnnected continuous wall for example may be considered as floating relatively to its supporting structure but yet not directly in contact therewith so that sounds, impacts and the like are not directly transmitted from one to the other; In other words, this invention contemplates a flexible or yielding support which may be upheld by the ordinary studs, beams or everf'by brick work, the "wall comprising of plain or plastered wall board of a fibrous nature or with a gypsum core, and an interposed flexible pad of felt or other fibrous or yielding material which will permit a limited movement or yielding motionof'the wall and the support so that there will be less danger of 5 cracking thewall itself, and to minimize thetransmission of sounds and impacts therethrough. The invention consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement ofthe several parts. 1 In'the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a wall and a supporting means constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional View of a structure as shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 illustrates a structure of this kind as applied to the corner of a room;

Figure 4 is a sectional view showin the application of a fastening clip to an I beam;

Figure 5 illustrates the attachment of a fastening clip to masonry or brick work;

Figure 6 illustrates the application of a fastening clip to an ordinary building stud.

In nailing, laths or wall board directly to the opposite sides of studs, and plastering thereon, no means is provided for the direct transmission ofsound from one room to the other and althouglrpartitions of this kind are somewhat deadened by introducing a filler between the upright studs, there still remains a a direct connection between the walls which and will not be transmitted by a direct positive connection from the wall of one room to the wall of the adjacent room, The flexible connection in this case comprises a metal sup, port for the wall and a metal supporting clip or fastener attached to the partition support and an interposed strip or pad of fibrous material such as felt, which not only will take up and absorb the sounds which would ordi narily be transmitted through the partitionstuds, but also will provide a flexible means for engaging the wall supports so that/the wall will not easily crack or become distorted.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a sheet metal supporting member 1 is formed in strips of considerable length with a hollow annular body portion 2 the edges of which are bent together forming the webs 3 which are then bent at right angles and oppositely to form the backings 4. These backings have cut outs 5 at intervals and in the-cut outportions, the webs 3 are extended and pointed to form prongs 6, the extremities of which may be left straight or may be bent over as desired anddepending upon the material to which they are applied. If the pointed prongs 6 are to be inserted directly through a wall board such as Celo tex or Sheetrock the prongs areleft straight and they are driven through the wall board by pounding it sharply on the outside as applied over the prongs; if the support is applied to a aster board in which the edge of the board iibuts the prongs 6, the extremities may be partiall bent over so that when turned downwar ly, the pointed ends thereof 95 will engage any adjacent edge of the wall board 7, as shown in Figure 2. Where the wall boards are staggered with respect to each other, as shown in Figure 1, the prongs may. be inserted through one of the wall boards 8 and maybe bent over them when the wall boards abut the prongs. In bending over the prongs to engage the wall board,-the rear face of the wall board is pressed firmly against the backing 4: of the supporting strip 1 and after the wall board has thus been secured in place, a decorative coating 9 of plaster or the like may be applied to cover the surface of the wall board and also to cover the exposed portions of the prongs.

When the support 1 is located at the corner of a room, one of the backings 4: is given a right angle bend 4 as shown in Figure 3 at a distance from the adjacent prong 6, substantially equal to the thickness of a wall board 7 which is to be supported thereby so that an angular backing is provided for the edge of one of the wall boards which is thereafter secured in place by bending the ad acent prong inwardly and thereafter covering 1 the wall board and the prongs with a decorative coating 9.

In order to hold the wall supports 1 yieldingly in position, a plurality of fastening clips 10 are provided, each comprising a metal backing having a portion 11 bent substantially in the form of an open U adapted to receive a correspondingly formed pad 12 of felt which may be held in place by lips 13 bendable over the edges of the felt pad and also by cementing the pad in the clip. Extending from one side of the clip is a fastening.

plate 14 with perforationstherethrough for fastening it by nails 15 or other fastening means to supporting studs 16 of a partition, and the extremitiesG of this plate may be made sufficiently long so thatthey can be bent around the edges of an I-beam 17 as shown in Figure 4:; or the plate may be bent at right angles and formed withridges or corrugations 18, as illustrated in Figure 5, which may be inserted directly in a concrete wall or may be inserted in the mortar 19 between the bricks 20 of a Wall.

These fastening clips 10 are readily applied to the partition studs, angle bars, of masonry walls of practically any building structure and they are easily applied in alignment so that a support 1 of considerablelength may be applied thereto by simply placing the annular portion 2 in the clips and bending the extremities of the U-shaped portion 11 over the annular portionQ, as clearly illustrated in Figure 2. The cut-out portions 5 of the supporting strip are omitted for the purpose of making these bendable edges of the clips more easily accessible, both for attaching them and for detaching them if it should be necessary.

With this construction it is apparent that the felt pads in the clips insulate the wall supports from the free transmission of sound waves through a wall and partition thus formed. If in addition the decorative inaterial 9 is an acoustical plaster, a very high percentage of the sound in any room is absorbed, first by the plaster itself then by the wall and its support and further by the dead air space within the partition.

The result is that a practically sound proof wall is produced at a very little additional cost over the ordinary commonly used construction. Furthermore, there is aconsiderable give or relative movement possible between a wall thus supported and the fixed studs or partition supports and the wall thus supported will give rather than crack, due tothe flexible connection between the clips and the metal wall supports. In eflect, a wall of this kind is a separate floating structure and is unai'l'ectedby stresses and strains which are present in the settling action of any ordinary structure. Therefore a wall thus constructed is less likely to become cracked or disfigured. Metal lath may also be secured in place instead of plaster board or wall board by means ofthe prongs and plastered in the ordinary manner, or with acoustical plaster.

I claim 1. An acoustical wall boar'd suspension device to prevent direct transference of sound by av metal to metal contact, comprising a metal holder with spaced bendable sides, a fibrous pad, a wall board, and a sheet metal suspension member bent upon itself to form an angular head adapted to be inserted between the sides of the holder with the fibrous pad thercbetwcen, and the bendable sides foldable over the head to enclose it and the pad thereby, the suspension member'having prongs projectingfrom the head insertable through the wall board and bendable over at the tip to engage the face of the wall board, a portion of the strip being bendable to engage the back of the wall board so that the wall board Will be held in place by the strip.

2. A sheet metal wall suspension device for acoustical walls, comprising a metal holder with spaced bendable sides adapted to be fastened to a fixed support, a fibrous pad insert able in the holder, and a suspension member of sheet metal bent upon itself to form an angular head embraced by the paid and the bendable sides of the holderand having proecting strips with extremities insertable through a wall board and to engage the exposed face thereof with other bendable portions to engage the rear face of a Wall board to form a backing therefor against which a wall board is held by the bent extremities which extend through the wall board.

8; An acoustical wall board support comprising a metal holder fonattachment to a fixed support having spaced bendable sides,

a fibrous pad insertable therein, and a sheet metal suspension member bent upon itself to form a head embraced by the pad and held by the bendable sides of the holder and having extremities insertable through a wall board and bendable to engage the exposed face thereof and other portions to en age the rear face of a wall board to form a acking therefor. a 4. An acoustical wallboard support comprising a metal holder having bendable prongs adapted to be inserted through a wallboard and then bent at an angle to fasten said board to said holder, and cushioning means associated with said holder and adapt- I ed to be attached to a supporting wall element. V v

5. In an acoustical wall construction, a wall element, a cushioning member secured to said wall element, and bendable prongs associated with said cushioning member and adapted to -.be inserted through a wallboard and then bent at an angle to secure said wallboard to said cushioning member. I 6. In an acoustical wall cons twtion, a wall element, a bracket secured to said wall element, an attaching member yieldably supported by said bracket, a fibrous board associated with said attaching member, and bendable prongs on said attaching member and passing through said fibrous board to, secure said board to said attaching member.

7. In a wall construction, a wall element, a wallboard in spaced relation to said wall element, a bracket attached to said wall element, and bendable prongs associated with said bracket and adapted to pass through said wallboard and be bent at an angle to attach said wallboard to said bracket and wall element.

BRUNO E. BALDUF. 

